Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Jennifer Aniston Buys Big Digs in Bel Air

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: It seems sit com queen and rom com royal Jennifer Aniston is moving on up to a twenty-some million dollar mid-century modern in the hoity toity Los Angeles, CA community of Bel Air. Before we address the newest real estate rumors swirling around Miz Aniston's latest (and alleged) acquisition let's quickly recap some of the notoriously real estate fickle celeb's most recent real estate activities.

In 2006 Miz Aniston dropped $13,500,000 for a Hal Leavitt-designed mansion in Beverly Hills then spent five years and many more millions on an extensive overhaul spearheaded by talented star-friendly architect and designer Stephen Shadley. Just as soon as the paint was dry Miz Aniston had a real estate change of heart and flipped the house on the market in early 2011with an oh-no-she-di'int asking price of $42,000,000.

Earlier in the year she'd told the people at People that she'd been on the hunt for a little place in New York so she could spend more time on the east coast. She also explained to the People peeps that she'd woke up in a London hotel room one night in the not so distant past and just at that moment came to the realization her life "felt really cluttered" and decided she needed to "simplify" her life, a process that included selling her big house in Beverly Hills which was "just too much" for the then single actress.

Of course, celebrities sometimes have a funny way of simplifying their lives.

The Bev Hills house quickly sold the house to an Orange County-based mutual fund magnate in June (2011) for $35,000,000 but not before Miz Aniston had already dropped more than seven million clams on two apartments in a low key but swankety-swank pre-war building in the West Village, one a puny 1-bedroom penthouse wrapped in planted terraces she bought from hairstyling honcho Sally Hershberger and the other a 1-bedroom apartment directly below. If the work has not already been done (or begun) the two adjacent but unconnected apartments will require extensive work to cohesively combine. That doesn't really sound very simple but then again who are we to know from simple?

Anyoo, it looked then like the long-time L.A. resident did indeed plan to high tail it back to New York City where she grew up and lived until she landed her defining (and exceedingly lucrative) role on Friends. But, not so fast said the little green man in the purple pants. It wasn't long after Miz Aniston sold her house in Beverly Hills that she and
her new New York-based man-beau Justin Theroux—who left his live-in gal pal of 14 years to get
with Miz Aniston—settled into unmarried (and leased) bliss in a high-priced love nest in the Bird Street neighborhood high above Los Angeles' Sunset Strip and it wasn't long after that bit of bizness hit the property gossip blogs Your Mama began
to get wind of Miz Aniston house hunting in the Platinum Triangle, interested primarily we were told in architecturally significant homes with lots of privacy and seven figure
asking prices.

Next up came all the hoo-ha and hullabaloo about Miz Aniston ditching
her plans to combine her newly acquired West Village apartments in favor of a much more
contemporary condo crib listed at $8,700,000 and located in same high-brow boo-teek building in Gramercy Park where Chanel's
exceptionally prolific German-born fashion goddess Karl Lagerfeld owns a pied a terre he's had on and off the market in the last year. Miz Aniston quickly shot down the rumor, admitting she did tour the place but had not made an effort to purchase.

Back on the west coast the rumors of Miz Aniston's desire for a permanent residence began to heat up and about two weeks ago we heard from Hermione Hightower, a trusted informant who sometimes has very accurate intel on Miz Aniston's real estate doings, who passed along the scuttlebutt that Miz Aniston was in the process of acquiring a clean-lined A. Quincey Jones contemporary in Bel Air on and off the market since 2008 an last listed with an asking price of $24,900,000.

We (stoopidly) sat on the tip. Naturally we asked around and received some "I hear that too" responses but nothing concrete enough we felt we wanted to move forward with the information. Alas. We snoozed and we losed. Today gossip juggernaut TMZ reported Miz Aniston has indeed snatched up the very same A. Quincey Jones-designed mansion in Bel Air that Hermione Hightower told us the superstar was buying weeks ago.

Another valued source told us earlier today that word on the Platinum Triangle real estate street is that Miz Aniston will pay around $22,000,000 for the approximately 8,500 square foot residence perched on a 3.25(ish) acre promontory high above the Bel Air Country Club.

A uniform grid of trees shade the gated, plaza-like gravel motor court and directly reference the rigorous geometry A. Quincey Jones applied to the architectural elements of the property that include a U-shaped main house with 4 bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms plus a separate guest house tucked into a quiet corner of the estate and a brightly colored poolside pavilion with outdoor dining and lounging area with fireplace.

Interior spaces have gleaming honey-colored hardwood floors, vast planes of gallery white walls, long banks of full-height windows and sliding doors, and purposeful pops of bright colors that include a cobalt blue wall that surrounds a courtyard outside the formal dining room, lipstick red fireplace column that separates the front entry from the formal living room, and cobalt blue chimney breast in the master bedroom.

The back of the house opens up balconies and terraces with canyon and city views. A wide lawn stretches back the swimming pool (with spa and poolside pavilion) that sits on a lower terrace between the house and the small hillside vineyard that undulates along the lowest slope of the terraces estate. Certainly she'll pay someone to grow her grapes, mow the lawns, trim the trees, and skim the pool, but employing a small army of horticulturalists and botanists, a shirtless pool man, and a part time viticulturist doesn't sound like the simple life to Your Mama but then again....

77 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Hmm, yet another stunning, architecturally signifigant mid-century modern by a famed architect...methinks perhaps Ms. Aniston is STILL not over Mr. Pitt, and that both this house and her last LA residence were either (subconscious?) attempts to lure him back with her newfound architectural taste, or F-you's to him, like "see all these houses I'm buying that you would totally love if you were still with me?!?", or at the very least, just that he's still inside her head...or maybe his taste in architecture just rubbed off on him...

Jesus. You JUST HAD TO bring her ex into this didnt you? How the hell does this have ANYTHING to do with Pitt? Plus he has absolutely no taste whatsoever...his last house was absolute garbage. YOU are the one that isn't over that divorce. Christ. How annoying can people like you be? -___________-

Ms. Aniston has the means and eye ( + design squad) to turn this into simply on of the most significant modern estates in West Los Angeles. No doubt this will hit AD after 1-2 years of renovations.

As the children of Mamma well know.. this home sits on a street off of Stradella Road and she is a rocks throw from her Super Design Star Tom Ford and the Meg Ryan Estate being leased (last I heard) to Diane Keaton.

Oh la la... perfection Ms. Aniston and also this house (after her redo of course)

For crying out loud - the FIRST post!?!? I mean almost expect some juvenile mind will bring her long forgotten ex into things, but really, the FIRST post!?!? Ridiculous. Get over it - she long ago has.

Amazing property, and not a surprise since she has exquisite taste. She and Theroux seem like a great couple, and hopefully they have a LA pad to start a family in. Also hope we get pics in a mag after they overhaul this place to their tastes!

I agree with anon 3:06. I wonder if Jennifer Aniston is turning into her generation of Diane Keaton...restoring significant homes.Whatever the case, I wish her, and her new home all the best.I met her face to face by accident one time a few years ago. After I realized who she was, and she figured out I knew who she was,she was the sweetest, most down to earth, unassuming, most polite gal I've ever met. She was truly a sweetheart and more beautiful in person, if that is possible. I will never forget that experience.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that perhaps Aniston and her ex might have shared some similar tastes and things in common...you know, maybe why they ended up together in the first place. It's a crazy thought I know. What, she's not ever supposed to buy "modern" or "architectural" homes because those are only for Pitt? Please.

Anyways, the Washington Post is reporting that it isn't just her purchasing this place - she and Theroux are buying it jointly. Congrats, and maybe finally some on here can start to leave her long ago past in the past and let her get on with her life. Last I recall it was Pitt, not Aniston bringing up his ex.

Wow, she's gone and done it again - and I'm liking it. And to think it really only cost her a small fraction of the price considering that the profit from the last home she restored and sold paid for most of it. Not too shabby indeed.

I get the definite impression that this girl is not happy. Unhappy women often go shopping. Extremely rich unhappy women flop around from house to house to house, I suspect. Unable to find the right man, unable to find the right house.

Can't stand this ugly boring vanilla trash. She's obviously seething in jealousy that she's an ugly betty compared to Angelina and Angelina who had the kids she's always wanted with the man that left her. A big happy family meanwhile this pathetic vapid nobody is buying up a real estate storm. How much money has she spent in real estate in the past 12 months? Does she do ANY sort of humanitarian work? All she does is buy homes.

Why does this unmarried, childless loser need such big houses across the country? Obviously filing the void that was left when Brad went on to better and more beautiful things.

Actually, I do remember hearing & reading back around the time of their divorce that one of things that supposedly helped to break up their marriage was the renovation of their house on Ridgedale in Beverly Hills, that she liked traditional, and that he was interested in architecture and preferred a more modern style, and that they had epic battles over what direction to take when remaking that place into their marital home, so I don't think that those questioning whether her interest in "architecturally significant" modern homes post-divorce are completely baseless in their line of thinking when they question if it at least in some way reflects some lingering heartbreak over her failed marriage with Pitt...

To hear people talk you'd think Brad Pitt was the best catch on planet Earth. No one could POSSIBLY get over him. I wish people would get over it already; it's so tiresome.

That said, I like the house. It's very pretty. I'm a tad bit jealous that I wasn't born pretty, lucky, well-connected, and white so I could afford beautiful property such as this. Oh well back to homework...

Given that I haven't seen a picture of her and the new bf in what seems like weeks, whereas for weeks before that we were subjected to almost complete documentation of their life on the streets of New York, I wouldn't be surprised if the bloom is already off that rose. Or maybe one of them is making a movie somewhere. Anyway, the theory that they're finished works well with the narrative of this house purchase since this is about as far from a cozy little love nest as you can get. The Anniston story is seeming sadder to me. This place has no soul. It's just all pretense. The likely "home" of a powerful movie producer type who has a hundred pairs of black jeans and a hundred white shirts that his maid hand launders and then puts back on the hangars which are spaced precisely one inch apart. It is completely male. She doesn't seem to know herself, what she wants, who she is. She keeps picking the wrong men, and the wrong homes.

I like Miss Aniston. Her houses, not so much. I didn't much care for Ohana until I saw the photos of this place. I would feel as if I were living in a shopping mall from the 80s. Just not my cup of tea.

Well Thank you Momma for talking about interesting celebs instead of Bridgette Neilsen. O.o Not everyone wants a "home". If your single with no kids. Why not buy a 9,0000 sq ft home with just 4 bedrooms. Its cute and hip in a glass sided sandbox kind of way. I dunno, i like it. I wouldnt live in it. I like estate mansions like Oprah's house. But i get why someone would buy it.

Funny how there are only a select few women in public who merit the classic "love 'em or hate 'em" psychological profiling that Ms. Aniston seems to garner; as if, despite what she'd achieved, many people still cling to the idea that without a man or children you're incomplete somehow, like a latter-day Margot Channing.

How insulting ––– and who cares, anyway? Why is it that the same isn't said of the real estate meanderings of Diane Keaton or Ellen DeGeneres? Too old? Too gay?

This expensive, not-so-little stunner is going to prove to be an intriguing canvas for another makeover, no doubt. I do understand the ambivalence regarding MCM architecture ––– for many it is an acquired taste, others simply despise it, much the way I despise Mediterranean (especially with a "mock" in front of it). To each his/her own.

Oh and Snowman, from the looks of things you'll have to go looking up one of the anon's butts for Mama's wooden spoon...

9:56. Yes I agree completely. Of course without putting her on a couch (for analysis only, mind you) one can't know for sure, but I doubt a woman who is happy in life would be flipping houses so frantically.

Well, of course we get why "someone" would buy it, just not Jennifer Anniston.And as for being the canvas for another makeover, the whole thing was just made over, according to the listing, so it doesn't make sense for her to make it over once again, seeing that she just paid top dollar (yeah, I know, she got a "discount" off the list) for a renovated house (yeah, I know, she's really, really rich and doesn't care about that).

It shocks me that so many people have the ability to analyze Aniston's state of mind and it's even more shocking how many people actually think she pines for Brad Pitt.

No doubt it hurt to go thru what she did with Pitt but that was YEARS ago.

She may not be happy (I have no idea whether she is or not) but I seriously doubt she's dropping 22 million on a house just to stick it to Brad Pitt who not only could care less I'm sure but who can afford to buy his own 22m house if he wants.

maybe she just likes a more contemporary style house nowadays.

The issue with Pitt's style as I recall wasn't so much that he liked modern things as much as he had a lot of very posh and uncomfortable things that weren't very comfortable. modern can be done in a variety of ways you know.

I don't think the lines inside this house look all that much different from the other Hal Levitt house that she bought and renovated then showed on AD. It still has a very modern feel to it. Maybe she just should have kept the other one that she shelled out all that dough for. I saw the spread in AD and although it wasn't my taste, it did look nice and I don't think all that much different from this one.

I've loved this house for years, it's been wallowing on the market for so long just waiting on someone with exceptional taste to do a gut remodel ... so happy she's purchased it.

Most of the comments here seem to side on the juvenile. Jen & Brad are still friends people! They still talk. She spent years remodeling the property on Ridgedale with Brad, she spent years remodeling her Hal Levitt ... her best friend is Courtney Cox another famous architecture lover & another close friend is Ellen DeGeneres, again another famous architecture lover - could it at all be possible that Jennifer Aniston actually loves architecture & has an interest in it? I think that may be the case.

Anon 9:13PM You're in good company: Oprah "wasn't born pretty, lucky, well-connected, and white" either, and she could probably buy a medium sized state. Ms Winfrey & Ms Aniston worked their tushies off and never gave up. That isn't all it takes, but it's a very good start!

What is up with all the juvenile and clearly tabloid-obsessed posters on here? Are you all serious with this notion that Pitt is some godly-stud that a woman could never get over him? You all might want to take a look at the man lately, his crazy life, and how he treated her and rethink that. Last I heard it was him bringing up her in an interview, not the other way around.

And FYI to those bawking at the idea that Theroux contributed much to this purchase: the man's independently wealthy from his successful screenwriting (and acting) career. Certainly he doesn't have her wealth (but then few do), but he is a multi-millionaire. Maybe he didn't pay half or even a third, but if they are buying it together (as has been reported), he certainly is making a contribution. And why does it matter what that contribution is? If things were reversed and we were talking about a male paying the larger sum none of you would be paying it a second's thought.

Gee, I am just floored how many of you would know how Jennifer Aniston is feeling about anything since you DON'T know her, and many of you have never even laid eyes on her in person in your life. The truth is Jen Aniston is a lovely lady who is truly a very nice person, and she is well liked by everyone she knows. She has long ago moved on from Mr. Pitt, and it's just ridicious the stuff I have read posted here about her buying this house to get back at him at some way. Another truth is she has been looking for a new home in the LA area, and this home with it's features (land, privacy, etc) was just perfect. Also, have no fear about her being able to afford this house and a very nice apt in NYC, too. Trust me, she can afford both and still could buy another house, too, if she wants one. Give the woman a break. It's her money and her life, and get over thinking she does anything because of some past relationship. She doesn't, and she's very happy. Her new home is lovely. Enough said.

People that are happy don't go running around buying and selling homes left and right and swapping men left and right either. They buy or build a nice house that they plan to live in for decades and settle down and have kids or adopt them.

There is now way a woman who changes men as often as she does would put her name on a deed with a boyfriend, especially if she is paying the lion's share.

"They buy or build a nice house that they plan to live in for decades and settle down and have kids or adopt them."

I pity your very narrow minded view of the world. What's right for you may not be right for others. The idea of the 'conventional life' isn't appealing to many. Marriage, mortgage, kids - Boring Boring Boring!

@8:41 that's just an utterly ridiculous, presumptuous, ignorant, oppressively conventional and judgmental not to mention just plain erroneous statement.

If that's what you want, to buy and settle in the same house for decades, that's just great but it's pretty fucking audacious to tell mama's children that's the only real estate choice "happy" people make.

I seriously doubt Jenn is plotting to get back with Brad. Am I the only one who saw the teenie weenie pictures of brad reading the morning newspaper in the buff?? I bet shes very happy with her new big guy. Thats all Im saying..

11:06pm SMART and STABLE people don't judge others, and they certainly don't make assumptions and accusations about people they don't know. If you and your billionaire men examples want to live in the same house thirty years, go for it. No one cares. On the other hand if you want to move after thirty days, go for that, too. It's your business. Same goes for me and Jen Aniston and a stranger on the street, too. It's you with the problem not Jen Aniston.

Also, I was thinking about Ms. Aniston. We hear about her homes, boyfriends, trips, movies, interviews, etc., but I have never heard or read anyone say anything other than she is a very nice person and very likeable. No pictures of her not acting like a lady either. Also, she obviously has dear friends who don't run their mouth about her either which is rare in her world and says a lot.

Finally, I like her new guy a lot, and if she didn't really, really like her new home she would not have brought it. Good for her.

I can only assume it's some kind of pathological envy that leads anyone to believe that Ms Aniston's actions are the result of some inner torment; we certainly have not known the tabloids to be plastered with any form or kind of acting out some folks of her wealth have been seen to engage in (perhaps the past accusations of her being a notorious pothead are true and she's simply too mellow for that).

;-)

The value judgments such "stable" or "normal" are simply irrelevant, inaccurate and indicative of jealousy. As far as Gates, Buffett and Ellison are concerned you're just comparing apples and oranges. A computer geek, a classic Horatio Alger throwback (whose philanthropy runs through the Gates Foundation), and a clever corporate CEO; all they have in common is a wealth most of us will never see in our lifetimes. Not to mention the late Steve Jobs, who demolished a one-time landmark home to downsize to a relatively modest 4 bedroom home, yet was reputedly not always the nicest of people.

Personally, I love most kinds of residential architecture; if I had the wherewithal to do so, I'd be buying a new place every chance I got, restoring, flipping or living in them as I saw fit, not pining away for the likes of a Brad Pitt or bemoaning an empty nursery.

But hey, that's me. See how that works? What I would do has no bearing on what you or anyone else, like Ms Aniston, would. Passing value judgments about anyone reveals a lot more about you than them.

On a blog dedicated the following the ongoings of multimillionaires and BILLIONAIRES. WHY would anyone single out and be jealous of Jennifer Aniston of all people. She isn't particularly rich compared to the gazillioniares mama documents. She isn't exactly a beautiful woman, compared to say,...I don't know...Angelina Jolie. She isn't an esteemed actress like Meryl Streep.

Again...WHY would anyone be jealous of this woman who was dumped by Pitt and can't seem to hold a man? LOL.

11:52 The real point is that what Jen Aniston or you or I do with our own money and our own lives is not anyone else's business. Judging others has a way of coming back to bite you in the butt. People do sometimes say ugly things about other people because of jealousy, and I suspect some of the things said on this blog are related to jealousy including yours. No, Jen Aniston isn't the most beautiful lady in Hollywood or the best actress or have the most money, but she has looks, can make a nice living as an actress, and certainly has more than enough money to buy and do whatever she wants. I have heard Ms. Aniston say she was blessed, and I believe she knows she is. Too bad for you she's not anywhere near as unhappy as you would like her to be.

***LMAO at the comments on this one....:o) This looks like Ms. Aniston's taste of course. It's ok.

***FWIW there are lots of Brad Pitt-type guys still around in Pitt's native state of Oklahoma and plenty here in Tennessee. Rope one, clean him up, teach him to walk erect, dress him up, and "poof" movie star material.

The russians like their real life soap operas. Scripted lives. Pitt...for instance has / had a scripted live. He's a dirty rotten bastard now. It's kindoff a cult. They all know each other. Arnold and Maria knew each other and met in the 1970s so did Demi and her little boyfriend there. Mean then nice. All little solgiers how do you spell that ? solgiers. No, Jen was a nice person I'd have to say. Oh yea but there was that time on the beach she was there with her buddy Vince Van however you spell his name. Yes they knew each other in the 80s too. You cannot believe anything they put in the papers anymore. The russians and the english own the press. help me if you can i've had lenty stolen from me. and woody knows some things tooooo. i'd like to get out there to california but they have me so broke and lied to and civil rights taken away. speak up celebrities in my defense. they are some vile people in the world. by the way there is no god.